Desperation
by JupiterZ
Summary: Syd's back, Lauren got shot and now Sydney is missing. Vaughn has to turn to the one person he hates in order to get Syd back again.
1. The Meeting

Alias is not mine, blah, blah, blah, etc…

Title : Desperation

Summary : Vaughn finally has Sydney back but there is trouble. When she is missing again he has to turn to the one person he despises in order to find her again.

Rating : PG13

No Spoilers – Please R&R – feedback is great!

The Meeting

He was sitting in the back corner of the bar, just like he said he would be. Walking closer to the table, it was clear that he had been there for a while. Either that or he was drinking too quickly.

The message was simple. Need your help.

_I wonder what you are getting yourself into Agent Vaughn_.

When he arrived at the CIA Agent's table, Vaughn didn't notice at first. When he finally looked up there was just a nod of the head to the empty chair.

"Your message said you needed help?" The blond man said when he sat down.

"I need to know what happened…to Sydney."

"Don't you think you should worry about your own…marriage issues, Agent Vaughn, rather than get involved with this?"

Vaughn looked across the table at the man he just asked to help him. All he could do was sit and wonder how he got here. He never would have thought his world would change when the girl with the dyed red hair walked into his life.

How long ago had it been? It didn't matter anymore.

He rubbed his temple, trying to ease away a headache he could feel coming and looked back up to the man sitting with him.

"Look Sark, you got lucky and got out of custody. I might not know all the conditions but none of that matters. You still have your contacts and I need to know. And you know about my marriage."

The two men stared each other down. Sark was hiding something, Vaughn was sure of it, but at the same time where else was there to go?

"Your relationship with Sydney didn't work out," Sark said in a low voice. "then there was Lauren, but things didn't go well there either."

Sark was enjoying this, almost too much. The look on Michael's face was priceless. The cross between disgust for having to ask Sark for help, combined with the raw need to know what happened was satisfying to Sark.

To say that Vaughn's marriage to Lauren wasn't well was an understatement. Leave it to Sark to bring her up. But the marriage was over in more ways than one. Lauren was gone. Vaughn had shot and killed her but he had changed long before that.

The first time he realized that things with Lauren weren't what they seemed he ignored the feeling, and evidence, but she became sloppy, the power she thought she had went to her head. He couldn't think of that now.

"It's not a hard decision." Leaning across the table Vaughn grabbed Sark's jacket and continued. "Either help me or don't, just give me an answer."

The staring contest continued. Sark was the first to break the glare by indicating to his jacket. Vaughn let go of the jacket and thought that two could play at that game.

"You claimed to love Lauren – "

Laughter interrupted him.

"Oh Agent Vaughn. I guess I forgot how much I was supposed to care for her." Sark looked at Vaughn's confused face before continuing. "I never loved Lauren. She was a cow. Do you know she honestly thought herself as _my_ equal? You actually did me a favour."

_Be careful you don't push him too far_. But he didn't have to worry. Something was broken inside him. The once virtuous Agent Vaughn, The Boy Scout, was just a shell of a man now. A desperate shell since he was asking for help from his enemy.

"Look," Vaughn started, trying to explain himself enough to get a straight answer from Sark. "I need to find out what happened to Sydney during her two years. I need help, if you know anything, I'm asking you to tell me."

Considering this, Sark took a look around the dark bar they were at. It was crowded enough to allow Sark the option of killing Vaughn. It would be easy enough, one shot from his gun, hidden by the table, the bullet entering through the stomach, making a small hole. But once inside the destruction would begin. Sark could then, just get up and be swallowed by the crowd. The noise in the bar was loud enough, and from the looks of it, this was the kind of place that wouldn't give it another thought.

But he's not here to kill Agent Vaughn, no matter how much he would like to, if only to get him to stop being pathetic. Like now.

_He's_ _just trying to mess with you, to see how far you'll_ go, Vaughn said to himself. He knew he had to stay calm. Getting angry with Sark, while it might ease his suffering for a moment, wasn't going to help him in the long run. Sydney. That's all that matters. _I need to find out what happened to her and where she_ _is_.

Standing up, Sark looked down on the crumbled agent. "You will hear from me."

Vaughn tried to watch him leave but couldn't focus very well, losing sight of him fairly quickly. He would just have to wait.

After leaving Vaughn at the bar, Sark drove away thinking about what had just happened.

He didn't expect to see Vaughn so beaten, a broken man, nothing like the man Sark had first met. Sydney's death had affected everyone, but when she came back – well that was something different, something no one was prepared for.

Once he was far enough from the bar, and sure he wasn't being followed, Sark pulled out his phone and made a call. He did not know if he still had a contact willing to help with this, but he would try. Even if Agent Vaughn didn't get the information he was looking for, it was going to be fun to watch.

When the phone started to ring on the other end his lip slowly curled up, it would be really fun to watch.


	2. Nightmares

The nightmare is almost always the same. The nightmare is always there. Drinking seemed like a good idea at first. Anything to numb the pain.

The memories of her when she first came back stuck in his brain and would not go away. The first time she confronted him struck him so deep inside his soul that he could still remember what she said to him, word for word.

"_No I just waned to…make sure that you – "_

"_You didn't come here to see how I am – you came here to see how _you_ are because you know in your heart, what you did, you want to make sure you are OK."_

"_I buried you, consider that for one – "_

"_Don't use rational thought as a defense with me, not after all you and I have seen Vaughn. You and I live and breathe madness everyday on the job, there is no rational thought. I can't even pretend to have a conversation about anything else with you. What it comes down to is faith._

"_I was hoping you would say is 'Sydney, I gave up, I gave up on us, I lost faith' but what you came here for was closure and there is not a chance you are getting that from me!"_

"_I'm not gonna say I understand, I'm not gonna sympathize with you and tell you how hard it must be for you – but you wanna know how I am? I am horrible Vaughn, I am ripped apart and not because I lost you…but because if it had been me, I would have waited. I would have found the truth. I wouldn't have given up on you and now I realize what an absolute waste that would have been."_

It was true. He had given up. The guilt that kept him up every night would always remind him of what he had done, or hadn't done depending how you wanted to look at it. He tried to hide it, tried to make Sydney feel guilty hoping that it would transfer from him to her. None of it seemed to work.

He had always loved her, even when she was supposed to be dead. He should have known enough from past experiences that he should have dug deeper. He should have looked for the truth. There had been too many questions that were never answered.

So many things had changed during the time of …he couldn't bring himself to say it. He had been told that Sydney was dead and he blindly accepted it. At least when he thought that she was dead it was easy for him to pretend he was getting on with his life. When she came back things changed.

_How did I get home_? Looking at the keys in his hand, he's horrified to think that he just drove. Stumbling into the living room and tripping over the coffee table is a nasty reminder of how drunk he is.

Now he was on leave from the CIA, at their suggestion and trying to come to terms with…with what? What am I trying to come to terms with?

Sydney. Lauren?

Vaughn had let himself be used and he didn't care. Jack had warned him about this, taking things into his own hands to achieve the result he wanted, but he wasn't like Jack and their situations had some acute differences. Thank goodness there were no children.

In his mind, with all that he had to drink, he was confusing Sydney with Lauren. Their images kept blurring, overlapping with each other, he couldn't keep them straight.

_You betrayed me. My wife betrayed me_. But when he looked up he could only see Sydney's face. No. He tried to shake the images from his mind but his body was too tired for him. With help from the alcohol, Vaughn passed out on the couch where he had fallen and didn't move until waking up the next morning.


	3. Look What The Cat Dragged In

He thought he could see the look of surprise on her face but he couldn't be sure. When she had looked up and saw him she had immediately turned to speak with staff, so he wondered. They hadn't talked in a while. She got up from her table and looked to where he was standing. A couple of her men were keeping him from getting any closer until she nodded to them. Walking towards her, she matched his smirk with one of her own.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."

She knew where he had been but didn't mention it. He took her hand and raised it to his lips in greeting. Just because he had been caged like an animal didn't mean that he had become one.

"Please, have a seat Mr. Sark."

He held her chair for her as she sat and then joined her.

"I see your manners are still impeccable, considering."

"I would love to reminisce about old times Alex, but I should warn you that I'm here for a reason."

Alex nodded once to this. The only time people came to see her was when they wanted information, so it wasn't a surprise.

"Drink?" she asked him.

Once they were settled, drinks on the table and no interruptions he got down to business.

"Someone is looking for information," he started. "I wanted to talk to you about it first. Seems this person is very adamant that they find out. I know you normally only deal face to face, but I felt I needed to ask you first before I said anything."

"You know how I run my business Sark. Obviously you think I can help so how about you get to the point and stop being so cryptic."

"Now, now, you American's and your need to 'get to the point'. You should learn to enjoy the anticipation sometimes. It hurts me that you don't enjoy spending time with me." He pouted.

She laughed out loud with no desire to hold back. Soon he joined in, their greetings to each other now complete. It was as close as either got to having friends.

"First, I'm not American, " she said to Sark when the laughter had subsided. "second, anticipation at the right moment can be extremely satisfying and third, I find it hard to believe that you couldn't find someone to 'enjoy spending time with you'."

The two of them were frighteningly similar although if asked both would deny it. Sark had heard of Alex years ago and had been keeping her as a successful contact for the past 3. She stayed out of people's way and was very good at what she did.

"You know I don't want to just find _anyone_, I want someone _special_, someone who will love me for me – "

He couldn't even finish the sentence without laughing.

"Let's get this work out of the way and then we can continue this conversation of your search for true love. Now, someone is looking for information about someone else and you think I can help? If you were any more vague you wouldn't even be here."

"I can see your confusion about the situation. To clear things up a little the information this person is looking for is about Sydney Bristow."

Hearing the name Sydney Bristow just confused Alex more. As far as she knew Sydney had gone missing for 2 years and come back with no memory. The time that had passed since then didn't really shed any light as to what happened to her. There were rumors of course but Alex didn't deal in rumors, but her gut did tell her that there was more to Miss Bristow's missing time.

She sat there and considered what Sark was asking. After a minute she let Sark know what she was thinking.

"I can't give you anything right now, I have to do some checking first but if everything works out here are the terms; I need to know who I am dealing with. Each bit of information has its own price. If I find someone that has something, my fee does not include further negotiations. And finally, there will be no retaliation towards me or my business. If it doesn't work out or the truth can't be handled, not my problem. I think that's about it for now."

"Of course Alex. Your terms are more than fair. I will relay this to my…friend. In the meantime you will find out if you can help or not."

They looked at each other, Alex smiling first.

"Anything else?"

"No."

"Good. Now how about another glass of Petrus?"


	4. I Do Not Deal With Drunks

So Michael Vaughn wants to find out what happened to Sydney. The suspended CIA agent couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag these days. At least she now knew who wanted the info.

Following procedure, she placed the call that would let her know if she would be any help.

"Someone is inquiring about Sydney's missing years." She said into the receiver.

"Who?"

"Michael Vaughn."

Alex could hear him thinking on the other end of the phone. She waited patiently for his response.

"Fine," the voice on the phone was not happy. "do you have a contact?"

"Yes, I didn't want to go ahead until I had talked to you. I was thinking of sending him to Pappas."

"Good choice. If you can, help him out. Keep me posted."

The phone went dead.

Vaughn met with Alex. From the moment they met she didn't like him. He had the nerve to come to her club already drunk. During their conversation she could see how glassy his eyes were. The smell of alcohol coming from him combined with his slurring was making her physically sick.

He wasn't enjoying the meeting either. Vaughn looked at her with skepticism and hardly paid attention. She seemed like she knew what she was talking about but no matter how much he had to drink he still remembered that she was associated with Sark. He didn't need to be getting advice, information or anything for that matter from this woman. His contempt for her was obvious and he was beginning to think he might be wasting time listening to Alex instead of drinking more.

"Please listen to me Mr. Vaughn. You have been drinking and right now I don't want to do business with you. As it is, you are wasting my time but I can understand where your frustration comes from."

She had had enough. Her voice conveyed the hardness and impatience that was slowly building.

"Are ya gonna help me?" he slurred, suddenly aware of his actions.

"Sober up and contact Mr. Sark. I deal with professionals only and I do _not_ deal with drunks. Do I make myself clear?"

He didn't say anything but he nodded to her. He had dropped his head in shame, knowing if he wanted the truth he would have to clean up his act a bit.

Crossing the room to where Sark was, Alex explained to him what happened.

"Get him sober and then tell him we leave for Athens in the morning."

"We?"

She looked at him with is eyebrow cocked and stared him down. He had seen that look on her face enough times to know she wasn't happy.

"I'm making it your responsibility to keep him sober when he meets with the contact." She said to him, the tone of her voice leaving no room for discussion. "Oh and by the way, we'll be using your jet."

Vaughn was having a hard time on the flight to Athens. He hadn't had a drink since Alex had left him sitting at his table and now, several hours later he was getting antsy. Neither Sark or Alex wanted to talk to him and it wasn't like they were all friends anyway, so he sat on the plane with nothing to do but try and keep his mind off Sydney.

If he had taken a look at himself in the mirror he would have been able to see why people stayed away from him. His hair, although newly washed, had grown long and messy. His eyes were dull and lifeless, bloodshot from his late nights and drinking binges.

When they had told him she was dead he wanted to die inside too. So many things had happened since then, he had left the CIA, gotten married, tried to move on with his life and then one day there was a phone call telling him she was back. They tried working together but it was hard seeing her everyday and then there was Lauren. The woman he thought he loved, the woman he killed.

He didn't want to know if Lauren had loved him. If he had never come back to the agency maybe Sydney wouldn't have left again. He should have just let her live her life without him but he had been selfish and he had no right to do that. Just because Lauren had broken their vows didn't give him the right to do anything. He should have just left her at the first sign of trouble.

_That wouldn't have done any good either_. Lauren was a killer. She had used him and the CIA for her personal reasons. She had an affair with Sark, killed people, kept information from him and the country she was supposed to be working for. But the one thing that would eat at him until the end of time would be what she told Sydney just before he shot her. He didn't know exactly what Sydney had found and he didn't know how Lauren knew but it was something big and he was sure that it had something to do with her disappearance now. _If only I could have kept Sydney from going after that information._


	5. They're Sleeping Together

They landed in Athens and went directly to the hotel. It was almost dinner time. Just before entering her room, Alex let the others know what the plan was.

"After you get changed, I'll take you to meet Spyros. Once I'm finished with the introductions I'll leave giving you privacy and besides, the less I know the better off I am. When you are finished you can take a taxi back here. Just be careful, the taxi drivers here aren't exactly honest."

"Might I suggest once you finish with Spyros that we go to a wonderful little restaurant called Thespidos? I've heard the food is excellent."

"Of course you heard it was excellent, I told you about it."

"We'll see. Oh, and Mr. Vaughn. I trust you will stay sober until you are back home?"

"Yes." He said feeling like a child.

"Good."

Each walked to their rooms and went in. Vaughn was confused by what he saw with Sark. He was having a hard time accepting that he had a friend. _They're not friends, they're sleeping together_. And why not? Alex was very attractive with thick brown hair that went past her shoulders. Her eyes were almost a teal colour, changing from blue to green with no warning. She was almost as tall as Sark and very slim. But Sark didn't have friends.

When Sark went into his room to change he smiled to himself. He had read the look on Vaughn's face and knew what he was thinking. He could just clear things up and tell him that he hadn't slept with Alex but that wouldn't be like him. Besides, the pleasure he would have gotten under normal circumstances when bating Agent Vaughn wouldn't be there this time. Hopefully there would be other times.

In Alex's room she took her cell phone and made another call. She wanted to turn in an update before leaving.

The three met in the lobby of the hotel and got into a waiting taxi.

"_Psiri, para kallo. Pamme sto Zefoto_." Psiri please. We are going to Zefoto.

"_Pou_?" Where?

"_Agios Dimitrious_." She gave him the street name.

"_Ah, idaxi_." OK.

They rode the rest of the way in silence. The streets of Athens are crowded at all hours of the day and this was no exception. They had tried to implement a driving schedule, letting certain drivers drive on specified days only but it didn't look like it was working.

Once there Alex and Vaughn went into the restaurant. Sark, not needed for this, took a seat on the patio outside and ordered a glass of wine while he waited.

They walked to the back and through the kitchen. Once near the back door, Alex led him around a pile of cardboard boxes and up some stairs. She knocked on the door at the top. Quickly the door opened and the man standing there grabbed Alex in a big hug and started jumping up and down with her.

"_Etsi Spyros, etsi_." Easy Spyros, easy.

"_Saz ecw casei_." I've missed you.

Not wanting to give away any personal information, Alex turned away and made the introductions.

"Michael, this is Spyros. Spyros, Michael." Looking back at Spyros she said. "This is the man that I was telling you about. I was wondering if you two might want to have a chat?"

They shook hands and Spyros led Michael to a table in his office.

"We eat, we talk. OK?"

OK.

"We leave tomorrow morning. I'll see you then." Alex said to Vaughn before leaving. She gave him one more sharp look before turning to leave. He's not my problem.

There was a lot of information for him to process. Vaughn had left the restaurant and was walking through the streets trying to sort things out. It wasn't that Spyros had given him a lot of new information but there were leads to follow. Some of the news wasn't good but it still hadn't sunk in. Combined with what he did know however, explained a lot more than he previously thought.

_As_ _long as I can find her it doesn't matter what happened_. It was all that mattered to him, that he find her and she be safe. They would worry about what they would do when the time came. He just needed her so much.

He hailed a taxi and gave the name of his hotel. Looking out the window as they drove the narrow streets, Vaughn was distracted by the amount of traffic this late at night. It seemed it would take forever to get back to the hotel, but as soon as he thought of it he realized it didn't bother him. This was a perfect opportunity for him to sit back and think without any interruptions, for a little while at least.

In his mind he started a list of things he had to do and people he needed to speak to. He knew what he was going to have to do and there was only one way to get it started. _I need a drink_ he thought to himself. He pulled out his cell phone and made a call. He needed the drink alright but there was something that he had to take care of first.


	6. Lied To All These Years

"Our friend is gone."

"Where?"

"Don't know. When we were ready to leave we found out that he had already left."

There was silence on the phone. Alex didn't particularly care, the man on the other end didn't intimidate her. It was all business.

"Make a few calls," he told her. "if any of your contacts see or know where he is get them to let you know."

"I will, and as soon as I hear anything you'll b – "

"You'd better."

The phone went dead. Alex just rolled her eyes. Cryptic mysterious bastard. Shrugging it off, she realized as long as she got paid, she didn't care. But why was she curious?

_Why is he getting involved with this?_

He had checked out of the hotel without Sark or Alex knowing about it, and just left. Spyros had given him some leads and he decided to start right away. Getting to Amsterdam was easy enough and setting up the meeting took a few hours but he was not feeling like he was heading anywhere.

If he had been more aware of what was going on around him he might not have gotten into any trouble but coming off another drinking binge didn't help matters for him.

The meeting started with no problems but then, without any warning, it took a turn that Vaughn didn't even see coming.

They had done their homework and knew he was CIA. It didn't matter to them that he had been forced to take leave. They had wanted to know why he was there. Vaughn had tried to tell them as much as possible but the more he tried to convince them that he wasn't there for anything else other than information, the more it seemed like they were toying with him. They were playing a very dangerous game with him.

Suddenly he started to wonder if he was going to get out of this alive. Just as quickly, a tiny voice told him that he didn't really care but he pushed that voice away. He needed to find out what had happened to Sydney.

In the end Vaughn had been able to leave with no problems and with very little information. His brain was trying to figure something out, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He knew there was a connection somewhere but for some reason it wasn't coming together for him. He did know one thing for sure, if Sydney was still alive there were people making sure that she was hidden well.

XXX

He was in another hotel room, alone again. When he was like this all he could do was think about her. How did things get to be so extreme? Did it start when he shot Lauren? Or did it begin even earlier than that?

When he found out that Sydney was alive after thinking she was dead for almost two years he couldn't believe it. He had gone through the motions of getting on with his life but he missed her. He might have stopped talking to her out loud but he still had the conversations with her in his head. Lauren's job may have been to get Vaughn to go back to the CIA when the Covenant asked but it was Sydney that got him to make up his mind.

There were times when he couldn't tell who he was more mad at, Lauren for allowing the Covenant to use him or himself for thinking he could move on with his life in the first place.

Lately he had begun to see Sydney in his memories that should have featured Lauren. He supposed it was the alcohol but right now it was all he had. He honestly thought that things would be better for him and Sydney once Lauren was dead but they weren't. In fact they slowly got worse.

That night, Sydney took off from Palermo and wouldn't tell him where she was going. When she had returned she was different. It was like she didn't know who she was. He noticed that she cut off any communication to her father which had surprised him until she had told him why. Sydney had been a child involved in Project Christmas, a spy in training since birth, lied to for all these years.

About a month after that the nightmares had started. The first night he saw what was going on scared him more than he liked to admit. They had fallen asleep, he could feel her body relaxing, her breathing getting deeper. He had missed that more than anything and at that moment he honestly thought things would be fine. Suddenly he was woken by screaming so intense he didn't know where he was for a moment.

Sydney was in a sitting position, rocking back and forth, her hands flailing around her. He couldn't get close to her for a few seconds, getting hit by her but it was the sound that was coming from her that chilled him. The sheer terror that he could hear coming from these screams was something that he couldn't protect her from. He had finally managed to calm her down and as quickly as she had sat up, she had fallen back in bed.

The next morning she had no memory of it. When it continued happening on a more frequent basis Vaughn became scared.

It was when she snubbed her sister's invitations that others began to notice the change in Sydney. She wouldn't socialize with anyone. Weiss tried to get her out a few times but she always had an excuse. There was no desire to get to know Nadia or repair her relationship with her father. She was cutting herself off from everyone and she didn't seem to care.

All he wanted to do was help her so he made himself available to her whenever she needed him. Soon they were together most of the time. When a mission was compromised due to an error on both their parts, they had been asked to take a leave of absence from the CIA.

He had his nightmares too, not as often as Sydney did but he could remember his very clearly. Replay of him shooting Lauren but when she had risen he hadn't seen it. He would be woken up by the sound of her gun shooting Sydney. Neither of them realized the downward spiral they were both on. They had isolated each other from the world, relying on a dependency that was not healthy.

When Sydney had told him about her involvement with Project Christmas, Vaughn had gone ahead and tried to find out more, if he could. There wasn't a lot of information available to him, especially now that he was on leave and didn't have access to anything. He thought if he could only find out what happened to her exactly, then maybe there was a chance.


	7. Project Christmas

Project Christmas.

A CIA venture to attempt the creation of a new wave of sleeper agents.

The concept was simple enough, the characteristics needed to become a successful agent started developing early in life, and it was so much easier to train children, their minds like a sponge ready to absorb everything.

Children who participated in the experiment were found in grade school. It was simple enough to have certain questions on standardized tests and then distribute them around the country. From there, the CIA had their choice of kids to invite to 'camp'. While there, the children were taught problem solving, puzzles and ciphers. For the entire summer the children were basically brainwashed. Told to act one way when their parents visited and another when alone.

After the children had gone home to start a new school year, the men involved with the project figured they had a success. The camps all over the country had reported good results and they made plans to continue with a new batch for next summer. Suddenly though, funding was cut and the importance of the project was lowered. Over time it became another CIA discard. No one thought anything of it.

Even though the project was put on permanent hiatus, there were a few that followed up with some of the more gifted kids. The ones who had excelled had kept good grades up to high school, and that is when the problems started coming in.

Johnathan Matthews, one of the best, had started getting violent at school. He ended up getting shot by the police during a stand-off.

Andrew Clarke from a small town in Wyoming, began having hallucinations and was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and now lives under 24 hour care at an institution.

Margarette Rogers began hanging out with the roughest kids in her town. She dropped out of school, became addicted to various drugs and was found dead of an overdose in an abandoned house.

There were more, too many to count, but one by one the children involved with Project Christmas were having problems. A few did make it through their teen years and most of them had been recruited in some capacity. Not all were with the CIA however, due to the fact that others had managed to find out who the children were. The Alliance had recruited a few, including Allison Dorne, to work for them.

To expect that the children who had been involved with the training and brainwashing to not be affected by that summer was a mistake that the CIA did not realize until it was too late.


	8. Close To Cracking

"I need you to find out where Mr. Vaughn is."

This was the first time he had called her and Alex was a bit surprised. He didn't wait for her to answer and hung up on her after uttering the only sentence of the conversation.

Vaughn must be getting close, she thought to herself. The pieces were starting to take shape but she still didn't have the whole form yet. There was a reason for all of this she concluded.

There was no reason at all for her not to have told Vaughn what he wanted to know in order to find Sydney, Alex knew where she was, but she had been warned in advance not to say anything. In her line of work it paid to plead ignorance sometimes. Besides, it was fun to watch the former CIA agent fall from grace.

Not that she had anything against the man, she didn't, but there was just something about him that she didn't like. Maybe it was that his code name 'Boy Scout' was too fitting. She found people who thought that the world would get better were idealistic and kept their heads in the sand. Black and white just didn't cut it, there were so many different shades of grey a person could get lost. In the real world things didn't have happy endings, they just happened. A good day for one could mean misery for another.

Looking at her watch, she figured she could get a summary for her mystery caller before going to sleep for the night. After 2 phone calls she had an answer. Vaughn had been seen in Romania. In a few hours she would know the address he was staying at.

XXX

He was going to enjoy this. When Alex had called him and told him what she needed he quickly volunteered to go. Rumor was that Vaughn was close to cracking and he thought it should be fitting that he should be the one to give him the push.

Sark found Vaughn in Zalau, staying at a small inn there. He talked to a few of the locals and found out what his habits were, then went to the restaurant and waited for him. Sark had to admit that, when Vaughn had walked into the place, there was no way to prepare him for what he saw.

Vaughn had lost about fifteen pounds since the last time they had met, which was only two and a half weeks. His eyes were sunken and there were dark smudges under them. There was also no mistaking that the razor was not his friend, and his clothes were filthy.

Once the shock of seeing Vaughn in this state wore off, Sark began to anticipate what would happen next. He would have to be very careful since Vaughn was obviously not stable and likely to do just about anything, but that is what gave Sark a thrill. He had been given the chance to be a part of the destruction of an enemy and he was going to savor it.

Vaughn didn't even notice that someone was sitting down at his table until he heard the familiar voice.

"Mr. Vaughn, you certainly are looking well. How have you been?"

There was no mistake that Sark was going to enjoy this, especially when Vaughn looked up at him and he could see the pure hatred coming from his eyes. Yes, this is going to be fun indeed.

"Whadaya want Sark?" he slurred.

Sark just sat there and watched the broken man. He must have been here a few days because the waitress had come by and dropped off a bottle of whiskey without having taken an order.

"You seem to be at a dead end." Sark said to him.

"Piss off."

Sark just took in a breath and told himself to calm down. He hated when people used language like that. It showed no respect. Another breath, and he continued through gritted teeth.

"I'm here to help you."

Vaughn looked up at Sark then. It didn't matter that they had always been on different sides or that Sark had an affair with Lauren, because the look in his eyes was that of sheer desperation. It was a look Sark loved to see.

His instructions were very clear thanks to Alex. After reporting in she was told to get information to him that would help him out. The ultimate plan was bigger than him but Sark was glad to be part of it.

If he had any feelings Sark would maybe have compassion for the man but he didn't. Sark was in agreement with Jack Bristow when it came to Sydney in that Vaughn wasn't good enough for her. He supposed no one was but he didn't indulge in fantasies like that.

"There is a flight to St. Petersburg in the morning, be on it. From there you are to drive to Belovo. When you enter the city you will see an industrial park. Look for number 47 Nazija. Someone will be there."

Normally Sark would have liked to stay and see how far he could push Vaughn but his instructions had been clear. He had made an assessment and delivered the message. Now all that was left was to report in. He remained seated though, taking in a few more moments, feeling a sense of intense satisfaction.

It was a few minutes before Vaughn noticed that Sark was just sitting there. Sark couldn't be sure if he was actually looking at him or not since Vaughn's eyes were unfocused, but Vaughn kept his gaze and poured himself a drink out of the bottle on the table.

"Is there anything else?" Vaughn asked.

"As much as I would love to sit and chat with you, I can see that you are busy."

Sark rose from the table and walked out.


	9. One Last Piece of Information

Footsteps echoed as he walked into the empty warehouse. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness as well as they could but his sight was still blurry. It never dawned on him that the alcohol was affecting his vision, but then again he was in denial. What he could see didn't give him any clue as to why he was here. There didn't seem to be any evidence that there was anyone there to meet him but he would be patient if it meant finding out where Sydney was.

He was tired. He wished that he could go home soon and sleep the rest of this nightmare off. Until Sydney was found he knew he would never go home. He had been to Athens, Amsterdam, Brussels, Romania and now…Belovo? His mind was too numb to process anything at the moment, so when he heard the cock of a gun behind him, there was no time to react.

_I don't think I'm shot_. Vaughn was slowly waking up trying to get his bearings but he was having trouble figuring out what was going on. When he tried to lift his head he felt sharp stabs of pain running up and down his body. Slowly he started remembering the beating, getting kicked in the stomach, the punches to his kidneys and finally the butt of the gun to his head. He just couldn't remember who had done the damage.

"Stop looking for Sydney."

Vaughn tried to place the voice but he couldn't. Not yet, his head was still swimming and he was concentrating more on not throwing up. When he felt better he looked up and was able to get out a weak response.

"No."

"I'm afraid it isn't up for debate. If you do not stop looking for Sydney you will be eliminated."

It didn't make sense. He knew that people were looking for Sydney. In fact, Dixon was leading the team but they had no luck so far. And then there was –

"Jack?"

The footsteps were slow as he could hear the person walk around and finally into his line of vision. Jack Bristow.

"Why don't you want me looking for Sydney?" Vaughn asked the man. If anyone wanted Sydney found it was Jack. He was confused, didn't understand why.

"Listen to me very carefully Mr. Vaughn. You will not find Sydney. Do you understand that?"

Vaughn just looked at Jack. He looked older, more worn but from the look in his eyes, more dangerous than ever. He couldn't be sure, and moments later he couldn't believe he would even think that, but for a moment Vaughn thought he saw guilt.

"I understand."

"Do you? Then understand that the next question you ask about Sydney will result in your death."

With that, Jack knocked Vaughn unconscious. Without missing a beat, Jack then pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

"I need you to give Mr. Vaughn one last piece of information."

XXX

Once Vaughn had woken, again, it seemed to him that things moved quickly. He found himself untied and was able to get out of the warehouse without a problem. When he was halfway back to St. Petersburg his phone rang, notifying him of a text message.

_Well, that's that_. Alex had just shut her phone after sending the text message. Her work was done.

Sark had retrieved his message and smiled. He knew that this would be fun but he never expected this.

There was no way to get into the house but there was a light on upstairs. Vaughn had checked the place out after arriving at the address sent to his phone. He would figure out a way to the balcony and hopefully find out once and for all what was going on.

He had been warned by Jack not to continue with the search but he was beyond anything that had to do with Sydney. Where she was concerned, nothing could stop him from finding her.

A few minutes later he was climbing over on to the balcony. He still didn't know where he was or whose house this was but he hoped that the ordeal was almost over.

When he looked in the window he couldn't believe his eyes. It was Sydney! His happiness was short lived though when he realized she was in a hospital bed. Looking closer Vaughn saw that she was secured to the bed with restraints and an IV was to her left side. Getting as close to the window as he could, Vaughn could see her pale face, the dark brown circles around her eyes, her thin form under the sheet.

A door opened and Vaughn jumped into the shadows. He could see a doctor and Jack enter the room. A confused look crossed his face, not understanding why Jack was doing this.

"Is there any change doctor?"

"Mr. Bristow, I'm so sorry but the tests that came back don't show any hope. If we had been able to start treatment a few months ago, maybe but she's too far gone.

"We cannot take the restraints off because she is a danger to everyone, including herself. She will need constant care and medicated. I wish I had better news for you."

"Had I known, I would have brought her in right away but her boyfriend decided he knew what was best for her and helped her hide. Trust me doctor, there is nothing I want more than my daughter…" but Jack couldn't finish. One more word and he would break down.

Sark had watched Vaughn from the moment he arrived. Tonight was something that he was going to enjoy. Maybe he would take some time off after this was done, go on a little vacation. _I wonder if Alex would be interested_? It didn't matter at the moment, right now he had a job to do.

Vaughn made it up the side of the building with little problem and Sark could see him walk up to the window and look inside. He could see through the scope that Vaughn was finally finding out what was going on, or maybe Vaughn was clueless to what was going to happen because he was in shock to have found her.

It didn't matter to him.

He had a job to do and the sooner he finished it the sooner he could think about that vacation.

_I kept her from getting better_? It didn't make sense to him but then again, it didn't matter. He had found her and he was going to get her out of there. He could find a nurse for her and they could be together finally.

He didn't hear the shot because of the silencer. He had felt the first glimmer of hope before the bullet entered, killing him instantly.

At least he had died somewhat happy.


End file.
